The sale of RSC Anderlecht to Marc Coucke in 2017 still has many gray areas. The current owner of the club is awaiting the conclusions of the courts but will still have to be patient.
The Brussels council chamber referred players’ agent Christophe Henrotay, former CEO Jo Van Biesbroeck and former manager Herman Van Holsbeeck to the criminal court for alleged fraud. The prosecution suspects that Marc Coucke was deceived during the takeover and suffered financial loss of several million euros.
The case concerns irregularities during the sale of the club. At the time, Coucke paid €59.2 million for a 74% majority stake in Anderlecht.
The old management in the sights of justice
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, this was done on the basis of false financial tables overestimating the value of the club. In addition, Coucke would have been forced to pay an additional 5 million euros compared to the initial asking price, which he accepted after a brief consultation.
Another point of contention concerns a so-called “research commission” of 3 million euros for Christophe Henrotay. This was promised to him if he found a buyer for the club. Although his candidate withdrew, he still demanded a share of the sum.
-The club offered a million euros, but Henrotay remained firm. To justify this payment, the former management allegedly falsified contracts and invoices, in particular those of Leander Dendoncker. The latter broke up with Henrotay after discovering the deception, as did Youri Tielemans, who said he was also financially harmed by Henrotay.
Investigators discovered that false invoices and dates were used to conceal payments. Rights to Dendoncker would have been modified to finally be able to pay Henrotay. All this led to a complex network of accounting manipulations, the sole aim of which, according to the prosecution, was to deceive Coucke.
The impact of the case is significant. The trial, which is expected to begin in late 2025 or early 2026, will have to determine whether there really was fraud and which parties are responsible. Marc Coucke has been waiting for this for a while, just to put an end to these bulky corpses in the closet.
